Kale: Three (Delicious) Ways

As you might know, Honey Bear and I are on a mission: to find happiness, and to help you find it, too. We’ve been researching the crap out of the subject and for the first episode in the series we call Honey Bear’s Guide to Happiness, we decided to start at square one: health. And what could be healthier than kale?

Of course, there are some people out there with particular hormonal problems/food intolerances who can’t really eat cruciferous vegetables without their guts inflating like the world’s worst balloon animal, and if you’re one of those: I’m sorry. Both for choosing a cruciferous vegetable as the subject of our video and for… the discomfort. In any case, there are lots of other superfoods out there that could sub in for kale, and most of them won’t give you gas.

Unless you eat a whole lot of them. Especially if you’re not used to eating much vegetation. But if you’ve been on a low-fiber diet and suddenly switch to a high-fiber one, the gas is inevitable. Wait it out a little. If you’re still gassy–well, I’m not a doctor nor do I pretend to be, so you choose your own treatment.

Anyway.

Kale.

Here are three simple recipes to help you enjoy kale–yes, ENJOY it. It’s actually not that hard to incorporate kale into a lot of different recipes, just like you might add spinach or broccoli. You’ll notice that two out of three of these recipes add some less healthy ingredients– yeah. Better to ease yourself into kale consumption, I think.

Also, fat helps you absorb vitamins. Some of them. I don’t know which ones, but it’s true.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions. Add a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to soften and become translucent. Add the kale and cook a few minutes more, until the kale has softened and the onions are beginning to brown. Add the green chiles and cook until heated through. Set aside.

Heat a separate frying pan, either nonstick or sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the hot pan and add a handful of cheese. Add a layer of veggies and a second layer of cheese, then top with a second tortilla. Cook until the bottom tortilla is lightly toasty, then flip and cook on the other side.

Beginner’s Kale Salad

In a large bowl, toss:

one large leaf of kale, shredded
four leaves romaine lettuce, shredded
one to two slices crispy bacon, crumbled
one small handful sunflower seeds
one small handful shredded cheese
two tablespoons (approx) of your favorite creamy dressing

Sam and Violet’s Purple Smoothie

In a high-powered blender (like Vitamix–must be a very good blender to sufficiently pulverize kale), blend:

one large leaf of kale, stem removed
half a cup of frozen blueberries
one banana
a cup or so of almondmilk

(You can also sweeten this with honey or agave syrup if you need… my kids are so accustomed to kale that the banana is the only sweetness they need to enjoy this)